[NYTimes] European Officials Consulted Business Leaders on Trade Pact

Long before trade negotiations began with the United States this summer, European officials were consulting with business leaders from both sides of the Atlantic on how to structure a free-trade pact. [...]

“I would say it shows two things — first, the enormous privileged access DG Trade grants big business lobby groups to set the agenda for the negotiations,” she said, referring to the name of the European Commission trade ministry. The second revelation in the documents, she said, is how the business community wants to use the trade talks “to change the way legislation is being done.”

“And it is quite striking,” Ms. Eberhart added, “to see how much energy the commission puts into dealing with these proposals and how seriously they take them, and how they are taken as a guide.” [...]